Princess Angeline

She was born around 1820 to Chief Seattle in what is now Rainier Beach in Seattle, Washington. She was named Angeline by Catherine Broshears Maynard, the second wife of Doc Maynard. The 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott required that all Duwamish Indians leave their land for reservations, but Kikisoblu remained in Seattle in a waterfront cabin on Western Avenue between Pike and Pine Streets, near what is now Pike Place Market. She did laundry and sold handwoven baskets. Like her father, Kikisoblu became a Christian and remained a Roman Catholic until her death on May 31, 1896.[1][2]

Postcard of Kikisoblu and her home near the foot of Pike Street, Seattle, Washington

She was buried (in a canoe-shaped coffin)[3] in Lake View Cemetery on Capitol Hill, next to Henry Yesler.[3] Years later, Seattle schoolchildren raised money for a headstone.[3]

The Chronicle of Holy Names Academy reported:

May 29, 1896. With the death of Angeline Seattle died the last of the direct descendants of the great Chief Seattle for whom this city was named. Angeline—Princess Angeline—as she was generally called, was famous all over the world… Angeline was a familiar figure of the streets, bent and wrinkled, a red handkerchief over her head, a shawl about her, walking slowly and painfully with the aid of a cane; it was no infrequent sight to see this poor old Indian woman seated on the sidewalk devoutly reciting her beads. The kindness and generosity of Seattle’s people toward the daughter of the chief… was shown in her funeral obsequies which took place from the Church of Our Lady of Good Help. The church was magnificently decorated; on the somber draped catafalque in a casket in the form of a canoe rested all that was mortal of Princess Angeline.

S. Angeline Street on Seattle's Beacon Hill and in Columbia City and Seward Park was named after Princess Angeline. Also Angeline and S. Angeline in her Tribal home land of Suquamish (Kitsap County). She also appears in the Cherie Priest novel Boneshaker.

In photos, Kikisoblu most often appears wearing a red bandana, shawl, and many layers of clothing.[3] She was photographed by people such as F. Jay Haynes,[4] Edwin J. Bailey,[4] Frank La Roche,[4] Edward S. Curtis,[5] and others.

In Seattle, the YWCA has a shelter named after her. According to their website, "Our Angeline's Day Center for Women provides safety and support for women experiencing homelessness. Our shelter opens daily from 8 a.m. and helps women transition into permanent housing. Located in Belltown, this is an area that would have been Princess Angeline's stomping ground. While we recognize and appreciate Princess Angeline, we also recognize the displacement of the Duwamish Tribe and the impact that had on their tribe."[6]

• Seattle Times: Angeline
• History Link: Angeline
• City of Seattle: Atlantic City (Angeline's birthplace) Boat Ramp

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Princess Angeline.

• Venen, Bertha Piper (1903). Annals of old Angeline : "Mika Yahoos delate klosch!". Denny-Coryell Co.Available online through the Washington State Library's Classics in Washington History collection
• Yesler, Henry (1907). Daughter of old Chief Seattle. Coast Pub. Co.Available online through the Washington State Library's Classics in Washington History collection
• "Seattle" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900. This source gives Angeline credit for saving Seattle residents from a massacre.